Day 47 – We did it! Yellowstone was AWESOME! We managed to drive the whole outer loop (over 140 miles!) in one afternoon / evening, and saw some amazing sights!
A few wild facts about Yellowstone:
- Over 2 million acres
- 1100 miles of hiking trails
- 300 miles of roads
- Over 2000 buildings/structures
- Yellowstone Lake has 136 miles of shoreline
We drove south from Montana into the North entrance, and proceeded counter clockwise around the entire outer loop. The scenery changed so much throughout the drive!
We saw several female elk hanging around the Mammoth area, like they were just part of the crowd!
We then hit a lot of the geysers and basins as we proceeded to the southwest part of the loop. The sound the geysers make is really neat! Loud and gurgling.
Here was the first geyser we stopped at…so neat to get so close!
Not long after that, we saw a bison roaming around! This was pretty exciting!
A little further along we came across a huge male elk!
On to more geysers and basins!
Old Faithful was a lot of fun! It was Avin’s favorite part of the park.
We went inside the 112 year old Old Faithful Inn and had some ice cream.
As we then drove farther around the Grand Loop, we came across a herd of bison! He later heard there were about 1500 bison about one week ago! Can’t imagine.
When we got to Hayden Valley, which is known for lots of wildlife, we saw more bison crossing the river. A young bison was fun to watch – it ran and jumped around with all four feet off the ground at the same time. Really funny!
Carla was the best at spotting wildlife, by far! She shot a few photos as well!
Female elk drinking from the river:
Trumpeter swans!
As we drove around the east side of the loop, the views were amazing!
The lake is so big that you can’t see the opposite shoreline in some areas.
And last but not least, I did get my photos of a bear and moose!!! 🙂
Day 48 – We drove through Wyoming on our way to Rapid City, SD.
Lots and lots of bugs!
Driving east is so nice since we start around lunch time and the sun is behind us.
WOW! GREAT PICTURES! I can’t believe you guys made the entire Loop in one day! And I even remember walking out on one of the boardwalks with my mom to look into one of those pools when I was about five years old and our family made that trip. The only difference in your trip and ours is I kind of think the bears that were climbing up on our car to eat food out the windows that we ignorantly fed them somehow looked a little bigger and more REAL than the one you photographed. Haaaaa.
Thanks! That is so neat! Haha, well someday I will see a bear outside of the zoo!
Your mother says she hopes not.
Awesome pictures!!! I remember Old Faithful being closer and larger…maybe cuz we were kids when I saw it! Friendly bear and moose are better than real ones climbing on your car, Gary says one tripped over your tent too. No wonder you are so afraid of Bears Jim!! LOL